Sometimes Shorter is Better

The Oscar Shorts are worth your time

Once again The Screen answers the question, “How the hell do I see the
shorts that are nominated for Academy Awards”? Starting Feb. 7, the
Oscar-nominated shorts in animation, live action and documentary will be playing
there. Each film is worth seeing in one way or another—and it’s amazing how
many of them are better than the features nominated for Best Picture.

Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?This Finnish film is the shortest of the live
action nominees and is also the only straight-up comedy. The Ketonen family
oversleeps and has to hastily throw itself together for a wedding. Spilled
coffee, missing gifts and Halloween costumes work their way into this
delightful and smart film.

Just Before Losing EverythingEver
wondered how difficult is it to leave an abusive spouse? Just Before Losing
Everything attempts to answer that question. This live action drama by
Xavier Legrand is tense from its first frame and somehow, when it’s over, it’s
just as tense. Léa Drucker is excellent as the woman who’s trying to leave her
husband and take her kids with her. This one is difficult but worthwhile.

The Voorman ProblemThis short has a problem of its own: It’s too short. Dr. Williams (Martin
Freeman—you know, Bilbo Baggins) is a psychiatrist sent to interview an inmate,
Voorman (Tom Hollander), who has convinced an entire prison population that
he’s God. The tone is perfect and the performances sharp. The only complaint is
that there’s much more to be said than what’s here. Yeah, it’s that good. The
Voorman Problem is based, in part, on a novel by David Mitchell, who also
wrote the novel Cloud Atlas. Here’s hoping this is a test run.

HeliumEnzo, a hospital custodian, takes a liking to Alfred (Pelle Falk
Krusbæk), a terminally ill boy. They share a love of balloons and soon Enzo is
telling Alfred about Helium, a beautiful paradise in the sky for sick children.
The description sounds a little maudlin and saccharine, but somehow it’s
touching, real, and heartfelt. The ending, which could have been a tragedy, is
perfect.

That Wasn’t Me It’s hard to imagine, but someone has made a
movie that may be more harrowing than 12 Years a Slave. Good news,
though: That Wasn’t Me is only 26 minutes. It tells the story of a child
soldier in Africa and what happens when he and a couple of European doctors
cross paths. That Wasn’t Me is violent, tense and scary as hell.

Mr. Hublot This animated short about a robot man and his adopted robot dog is
charming. Mr. Hublot suffers from something like obsessive-compulsive disorder,
but when he takes in an orphaned puppy, his life changes. And the dog changes,
too, forcing Mr. Hublot to make adjustments. This simple story is beautifully
animated and whoever did the dog’s voice deserves his own award.

PossessionsA samurai, a rainstorm and a shelter filled with
discarded umbrellas and silks is the setting here. The colors in this animated
film are bright, swirling and pop off the screen, and a tale about respect
weaves its way into your consciousness without being pushy or too over the top.
Why can’t feature length animated films be this clever?

Room on the BroomThe
one dog in the bunch is cute enough and it looks fine, but this animated short
is so decidedly for children that it makes all the other shorts here (save
Disney’s Get a Horse!, which I haven’t seen) seem really out of place.
Or maybe Room on the Broom is out of place with its forced rhymes and a
mean dragon (whose wings couldn’t possibly support his weight). Still, it has
its moments. The frog and the bird in particular are delightful.

FeralThe scariest of the
animated shorts is not, in any way, for kids. The animation is stark but
fastidious, and the feral boy at its center is no one to be trifled with. Feral
also does very much with little dialogue. It’s amazing what a growl and some
snarling teeth can do.